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And once again, we reach the end of another year. And as usual, I didn’t get to see as many movies as I wanted to. I saw most of the ones I was really excited about, all but one in fact (which wound up not being made at all, sadly). For the record, the ones I didn’t see yet that are still on my to-see list are American Hustle, Wolf of Wall Street and Her, all of which will be readily available after the holidays, what with being award bait and all.

So here, for the second year (here’s last year’s list if you’re interested), the list of movies I saw this year roughly in order of how much I liked them, along with brief comments on a few films. This list includes made-for-TV, direct-to-video, and streaming films, as long as they were feature length. The rankings are based purely on how much I enjoyed watching the movie, and no other criteria. I caution you, though, that my opinions on rankings and such change frequently, so if you ask me to make this same list tomorrow, it may well be slightly different:

1. Saving Mr. Banks. Simply a beautiful movie that hits me hard as a writer. I get where both the characters of P.L. Travers and Walt Disney were coming from, I sympathize with them both, and I found the movie deeply moving. I know that a lot of it was conjured up for the sake of cinema, but I’m kind of afraid to look up how much for fear it would ruin the film for me.
2. Frozen. Disney’s best animated movie in years. I particularly like that the film was undeniably a love story, but at the same time, broke every major rule in the usual “princess” formula.
3. Man of Steel. A controversial choice to be this high, I know, but I don’t care. As someone who’s loved Superman since childhood, I thought this film was a worthy jumpstart for both the character and for DC’s effort at a cinematic universe.
4. Pacific Rim. The most underrated movie of the year, in my opinion. Visually exciting and a hell of a lot of fun.
5. Monsters University.
6. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
7. Ender’s Game.
8. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
9. An Adventure in Space and Time. TV film about the original star of Doctor Who, William Hartnell, made in conjunction with the series’ 50th anniversary. I really liked it.
10. Evil Dead.
11. The World’s End
12. Oz, The Great and Powerful.
13. Star Trek Into Darkness.
14. Thor: The Dark World.
15. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
16. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part II.
17. The Rubber Room. Intriguing documentary about the New York public school system, specifically the practice that leaves teachers accused of assorted mistakes stranded without work for months or years without the opportunity to defend themselves.
18. Crystal Lake Memories:The Complete History of Friday the 13th. Good and terribly thorough documentary about the horror movie series. Make sure you’ve got the time to watch it, though – it’s SEVEN HOURS LONG.
19. Iron Man 3.
20. LEGO Batman The Movie: DC Superheroes Unite.
21. The Wolverine.
22. The Sound of Music. Live TV production of the classic musical.
23. Necessary Evil: The Villains of DC Comics.
24. Europa Report.
25. Superman Unbound.
26. Kick-Ass 2.
27. Warm Bodies.
28. Upstream Color. I really liked the director’s last movie, Primer, so I had high hopes for this one. I felt somewhat let down, though. The movie thought it was smarter than it really was.
29. Escape From Planet Earth.
30. Side Effects.
31. A Good Day to Die Hard.
32. World War Z.
33. Mister Scrooge to See You.
34. Jack the Giant Slayer.
35. Iron Man: Rise of Technovore.
36. The Purge. Intriguing idea – a world where all crime is legal for 12 hours a year – but the film is handled poorly, set up on a soapbox, has a horribly predictable ending and is so heavy-handed it’s impossible to enjoy as a thriller.
37. The Host. The only thing I have to say about this Stephanie Meyer adaptation is that I initially mistyped it as The Hose, and I couldn’t help but think that would have been a more interesting movie.
38. Riddick.
39. Oblivion. I challenge anybody to explain the backstory and plot of this film in a way that does not invite a six-year-old child to point out how outrageously stupid the aliens are. I DARE YOU.
40. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.
41. Sharknado. I know that this TV production was supposed to be bad, but I disagree with those who think it was both bad and fun. I just didn’t enjoy it.

LIAM: Well, since you asked, we just topped $200 million in our first week. Best November opening of all time and all that.

CHRIS: Hey, that’s great.

LIAM: And… oh gee, I’m sorry. Looks like that knocks Thor: The Dark World down to tenth.

CHRIS: What?

LIAM: Yeah, all the other spots are Harry Potter, Twilight and James Bond*. Sorry, bro.

CHRIS: Well, that’s all right. I mean, you’ve got to work it all in, since you’ve only got two movies left in the franchise. Thor, y’know, he could go on forever… Thor 3, Avengers 2 and 3… guest-spots in other Marvel movies… I could ride this train for the rest of my life.

LIAM: Until your hair starts falling out?

CHRIS: What?

LIAM: Nothing. Stuffing?

CHRIS: Don’t mind if I do. (Chews intently.) You know, it’s not really fair to compare here. I mean, you lucked your way into a franchise that’s got millions of books in print.

LIAM: True, it’s not like there’s any history behind Thor. I mean… the character has only starred in comic books since 1962. And, y’know, thousands of years of being worshipped as an actual mythological god. Not like anybody had a chance to find out about him.

CHRIS: At least I’m the star of my movie. People only go to your movie to see Jennifer Lawrence!

Another bit of audio goodness for you guys, as I got together with my podcast crew last night and talked about Thor: The Dark World.

And what’s cool this week? Jason is enjoying season two of Revolution, while a jury duty-bound Blake hasn’t had time for anything but the six-minute short “The Night of the Doctor,” the prequel to next week’s Doctor Who 50th anniversary special.

Twice a year my podcast, the All New Showcase, devotes an episode to movie previews. This week, my fiance Erin and I look ahead at all of the big releases coming out in the months of November and December — which ones we’re excited by, which ones we’re passing on, and which ones look utterly ridiculous. If’n you’re so inclined, give it a listen.